Emails from grateful winners have already started pouring in and their messages are heart-warming to say the least. Hearing your thoughts and the optimism in your voices really validates the hard work that we’re putting in here at Treehouse.

We’re all extremely excited about the opportunity to give away access to students and look forward to seeing the impact that it will have. Sometimes it’s hard to convey our passion through video or articles on the blog, but we feel so strongly about our mission to see code change the world. This is just another step in seeing this dream become a reality.

We all feel that the education system has failed us in some way, yet it remains a huge part of who we are and the foundation of who we will become. We hope that these scholarships will be a great compliment to what the students are currently learning and also give them the opportunity to be on the cutting edge of technology. Our hope is that you all hit the workplace prepared the day you graduate rather than graduation being your starting point.

Now for a note to the winners of the scholarships.

Winning this contest comes with a great responsibility. Many times when we receive something for free we don’t value it as much. My challenge to you is to appreciate and take hold of this opportunity to change the course of where your life can take you.

1. Don’t take it for granted.

We have received many comments, emails, tweets, and posts from those that either didn’t win the contest or didn’t quite qualify. They were hungry for the opportunity and many were from countries that don’t have the opportunities we have here in the states. Don’t take this for granted.

2. Make it a daily habit.

We want to see you invest just a little time every day into learning a little more, coding a few lines a day, and becoming the best web professional you can. You are the first generation to have been completely immersed in the web and you are the future.

If I could give you a motivating speech, like in the movies Gladiator or Braveheart, I would. I would love nothing more than to see each of you take this opportunity like a torch and do some really great work.

3. Start now.

My challenge to you is to start now. You don’t have to wait until the day you graduate to start making things. Login right now, learn front-end design or programming, and start creating.

Start building websites for people or coding iPhone apps for the app store. Take what you learn on Treehouse and start putting it out into the world. Having your work out there and in people’s lives is the best education you could ever get. Shipping your new apps or sites, getting feedback, making changes and relaunching is a process that you will soon learn to love.

4. Ship and show us your work.

Make us proud and send everything you create our way. One of the things that excites us the most about this scholarship is that we selfishly want to see all of the great things that you create. We’re all geeks at heart and love seeing the great work that people do, especially when they learned how to do it from us:)

Conclusion

Congrats to all of those that were chosen. Go forth and build!

For those of you that didn’t win this time or live in other countries, fear not! Stay tuned because we’re only getting started:) Hint, Hint…